On March 24, the Interior Department announced that it will begin a “Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement” to review how coal production on public lands impacts climate and whether it is providing a fair return to tax payers.

Less than a week after announcing a joint U.S/Canada agreement to combat climate change and prioritize Arctic conservation for the benefit of indigenous peoples, the Obama administration released a proposed five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing that includes Alaska’s Arctic Ocean

"Today's decision is a turning point in the decades-long fight to protect the Badger-Two Medicine area of Montana." said Jamie Williams, president of The Wilderness Society. "The Interior Department recognizes that the Badger is simply too sacred and too wild to drill.